The Taste of Control
by Monday1113
Summary: A package arrives, and trouble follows with it. Four against one isn't a fair fight, especially since now, they're not holding back. Rated for future violence. Probably better than it sounds.
1. Chapter 1

**Oh look! I've written a story where there's no yaoi. How long has it been since this happened? It feels like too long.**

**Monday1113 owns nothing.**

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The Taste of Control

Chapter One

"It's perfect." Garmadon murmured, sitting up suddenly. Moonlight filtered in through a window, casting long shadows across the wooden floors of the Dark Bounty.

He cast a glance to where the Mega weapon stood, propped in the corner of the room. A faintly golden glow emanated off of it. With a smirk pulling at his lips, he knew exactly what he would wish for. This time, he knew his plan would be fool-proof, unlike the others.

Standing up, he walked towards it, grasping it in two of his hands. He could feel the power within the staff. It rolled off the golden scepter in waves.

"I wish..." Garmadon started, making sure to word his desire correctly. "I wish for something that could make the ninja work for me!" The words tumbled from his mouth excitedly, like a small child was talking to a parent after a day at school.

The Mega weapon glowed brightly, rays of its golden light filled the room, forcing Garmadon to close his eyes as it grew in intensity.

He could feel the warmth of the light on his skin. When the light finally dimmed again, Garmadon opened his eyes. Seeing what the weapon had left for his plan, he smiled.

Picking up the small box, he opened it. Peering at the contents, Garmadon laughed. "This will be the end to the ninja."

On a second glance, he grabbed one of the items inside, and set it aside. Only four of these would be needed. The fifth wasn't necessary.

* * *

Sun ran through the broken blinds on the window, crossing the floor to where several, thoroughly exhausted ninja rested. Light shone in the eyes of the youngest of them. Groaning, the small child rolled over, facing away from the window.

He hadn't been asleep to begin with, merely lying there until he had to get up. Even after hours of grueling training the day before, the child had gone to bed thinking sleep would come quickly. Unfortunately, it didn't. The child was once again left tossing and turning, only sleeping for short stretches before he would wake.

It was a tiring process that led to his teachers making him work harder because of mistakes brought on by his restless sleep. Closing his blue-grey eyes, he slowed his breathing, letting his body relax.

Images from his nightmares flashed behind his closed eyelids, forcing tired eyes open again. Lloyd freely shuddered, knowing none of the others were probably awake to see. Ever since his destiny had been revealed to him, the nightmares that had plagued him before he attended Darkley's School for the first time, years ago had returned.

It always was the same nightmare too. Lloyd was falling, and he could feel it, but it was so dark, that he couldn't see anything. All he had in the dream was the sensation of falling fast from a great height, getting closer to the ground. Right before he'd most certainly die though, he would always see a pair of fluorescent pupil-less eyes staring at him with a predatory glare

Whatever happened past that part of dream, Lloyd didn't know. The eyes were what scared him the most, and every time he had dreamed of them, he would wake up, shivering and clammy-skinned from fear.

Behind him, he could hear the sounds of Zane waking up. The nindroid would soon come to wake Lloyd up, as well as the others. Laying as still as possible, Lloyd continued to try faking sleep. He didn't want to have Zane lecturing him about needing sleep. Of all things, sleep was high on Lloyd's list of things he wanted.

"Lloyd?" Zane asked softly from his bunk as he rubbed at his eyes, one of the unnecessary habits he had that made him seem more human. "Are you awake?"

Lloyd silently cursed Zane's innate ability to tell if someone was awake or asleep, and sat himself up. "Yeah," He said back, just as quiet. "I'm up." He swung his legs over the side of his cot, pushing his blanket back. Swinging his legs, the tips of his toes just barely brushed the cold wooden flooring.

"Why?" The nindroid pressed for a reasoning for the child's early waking. Zane tilted his head at Lloyd. "It still is very early."

"I couldn't sleep." Lloyd replied, pointing towards the window. "The sun woke me up."

Not pushing his boundaries as he detected the lies in the green ninja's words, Zane nodded. "Ah." He looked at the clock, even though he knew exactly what time it was already. "Would you at least like to help me wake the others?"

"Sure." Lloyd said, trying to shake the image of the purple eyes from his mind.

* * *

"No, not like that Lloyd." Kai said, voice slightly exasperated. "If you try fighting someone like that, you'll get hurt." Walking towards the child, Kai knelt down, and fixed the boy's grip on the sword. "Holding it like this not only increases how you can strike, but it also protects you from hurting yourself."

"Thanks." Lloyd mumbled, yawning again.

"No problem. Your wrists will be thanking you later." Kai picked up his practice sword, since he and the others decided giving Lloyd weapons that could actually hurt weren't a very good idea right now, especially since Lloyd was clumsy, and prone to accidents. "Ready to go again?"

Lloyd stifled a yawn back, eyes stinging. "Yeah, sure. Whatever." He shifted his stance a little, keeping his own center of gravity low, just like Kai had taught him.

Kai struck first, catching Lloyd off-guard. Mind quickly speeding up, Lloyd blocked the attack, stepping to his left, and slightly back. Repeating the same motion, Lloyd sparred with Kai, holding his own against the swordsman for several seconds, before Kai snaked his right foot behind Lloyd's ankle, tripping him.

As Lloyd hit the mats of the dojo floor, the sword fell out of his hands. Kai placed a knee on Lloyd's chest, holding him down. "Good try kid. Getting better." He told Lloyd with a smirk. "Remember the first time we sparred? You went down seconds after we started."

"I know." Lloyd replied with a frustrated huff. Kai got off of him. Offering out a hand, Lloyd took it, letting the ninja of fire pull him off of the floor. "I'm just tired of you guys beating me all the time! How am I supposed to beat my father if I can't even beat you guys?" His small hands curled into tight fists as his frustration ran through him, turning into anger.

Taking a deep breath, Lloyd's fists unclenched themselves.

Kai gave Lloyd a wistful smile. "You _can _beat your father. The final battle's a long ways away Lloyd. By then, you'll be a lot stronger." He said. Lloyd's eyes met Kai's, and Lloyd nodded, taking his words in, and acknowledging them. A smile broke out across the boy's face.

"Thanks Kai." Lloyd said, internally sighing at the thought of fighting his father. "I needed that."

"No problem." Kai said, Lloyd's smile coming off as real and genuine to him. He was completely oblivious to the fact that Lloyd's smile was forced.

Kai started walking towards the door of the dojo, putting the training swords away. "Come on, Jay told me a package came earlier. Apparently there's something for each of us."

"Really?" Lloyd asked. Usually, when things came for the ninja, Lloyd was left out. Hearing that there was something for him was unusual.

"Really." Kai said.

Lloyd followed Kai out of the room. As they started their walk back to the apartment, Lloyd suddenly felt uneasy. It had been several days since his father had tried anything, what if the package was his father's way to sabotage the ninja?

He shook his head. His father wouldn't send anything that could possibly hurt him, and even if his father had sent something, they would have caught it quickly, and gotten rid of it.

* * *

Walking back into the tiny apartment, Lloyd nearly gagged. The smell of something burning assaulted his nostrils almost instantly. Smoke curled out of the small window, billowing up from the sink. Pinching his nose in attempt to block out the smell, he walked towards the sink.

A pot filled with a thick, dark-colored sludge was the source of the smoke. He recognized it as Cole's chili, except this time, it was burnt.

"Mmm," Kai hummed, making a face. "That looks _great_ doesn't it Lloyd?"

Lloyd turned around, and glared at Kai. "It sure does. I'll make sure to let Cole know that you're super hungry, and want extra tonight."

They both busted out laughing. It wasn't that Cole's chili was _awful_,it just had some pretty bad after effects.

"I'll give both of you extra if you don't stop laughing." Cole said from behind them, making the two jump in surprise. He moved the two aside, removing the smoldering pot from the sink. Setting it back down on the stove-top, Cole turned around. "How'd training go?"

"It was okay, Lloyd's getting better at sparring." Kai said, trying to make it sound like Lloyd had done better than he actually did, just to make Lloyd feel better. "What about the package?"

"Oh yeah, that. Some fan sent sugar cookies for us. Little baggies for each of us." Cole looked at Lloyd. "Except for you."

Lloyd's face fell. Once again, everyone else was getting something, but Lloyd still got nothing.

"Someone sent those sour cherry candies for you." Cole said.

Lloyd's eyes widened. It felt like forever since he had sour cherry candy. He could remember the tart flavor that quickly turned sweet, and smiled. "Really?"

"Really." Jay said, tossing the bag of the candies at Lloyd. He caught them, and heard the spheres inside the bag clicking against each other. "Just don't ruin your appetite with them. We all know how much you love chili night."

Cole turned around, brandishing the spoon he was using to scrape the burnt chili off with. "Shut up about my chili Jay. It's delicious, and you know it!" He turned the heat back on under the chili, making sure it was on low. Setting a timer, he took the spoon covered in the crisp chili towards the trashcan, scraping it off. "Alright, let's see how good those sugar cookies actually are."

Jay grabbed the four remaining bags out of the box. "Right, here's Zane's," He tossed the bag towards the nindroid, who caught them without looking up from the book he was reading. "And these are Kai's, and these are Cole's." Jay tossed the two bags towards their rightful owners.

Lloyd sat himself down contentedly on his bed. Opening the bag, he stuck one of the cherry sours in his mouth, eyes clenching shut at the sudden sourness. Looking at the others, he saw Jay take a bite of the cookie. He chewed it for a minute, before his eyes went wide. "These are pretty good actually."

Cole was the second one to taste the cookies. "Yeah, kinda interesting flavor though..." His thick eyebrows knitted together as he tried to identify what he was tasting.

Zane and Kai both nodded, agreeing with Cole's confusion over the flavor. "It tastes...slightly nutty, but I detect no nuts." Zane said. His internal mechanisms were working hard on trying to identify the flavor, but there was no match.

Cole shrugged. "It's not as good as cake, but it's still pretty good."

"Better than your chili..." Kai muttered, loud enough for Cole to hear him. With a glare from Cole, Kai finished the cookie, re-sealing the bag they came in.

Lloyd finished the candy, swallowing the tiny bit that remained with a shudder. This bag was different. It didn't get sweet over time, it just stayed sour. His stomach twisted with worry about what his father could be planning, and when he might strike next. Setting the bag of candies down on the floor next to his cot, Lloyd laid down on his side, and closed his eyes, drifting into the darkness of his dreams.

* * *

**Do you guys want me to continue this? If no one's interested, I probably still will, but knowing that people want to see how this ends would be cool.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Monday1113 does not own Ninjago. She only writes fanfiction for it.**

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The Taste of Control

Chapter Two

Darkness surrounded Lloyd in his dream. He was falling again. Wind surrounded him, cutting through his gi. It felt like his stomach and heart were trying to crawl out of his throat, letting Lloyd know he was falling _fast_ and would soon hit the ground.

_'Any second now, I'll see those eyes, and I'll wake up. Nightmare over.' _Lloyd told himself, still falling from some impossible height. _'I always do.'_

This time though, the dream was different. He saw the eyes for a second, embracing the fact that the nightmare was about to end, and Lloyd would wake up, before everything became dark again. Panic filled the child in his dreams. This was something he was unfamiliar with.

It was hot and humid where Lloyd was, and warm saliva dripped onto his skin, sliding down slowly. Lloyd realized he was being eaten. Blindly stumbling around inside what had to be a giant mouth, he felt around for the mouth of the monster, trying to get out. He was seconds too slow, as the creature swallowed, Lloyd saw the outside world through a gap between two large fangs.

Once again, he was falling, free-falling down the esophagus of the creature. Landing in its stomach, he struggled to pull his arms out from under the thick, gooey liquid he had landed in. Purple light cast a sinister glow, showing the slimy interior of the beast's stomach. The liquid was cool, and stuck to him like taffy, slowly dragging him down.

Lifting his arm above the surface, Lloyd felt his arm shake under the pull of the sticky liquid, before it was sucked back under. The goo had swallowed Lloyd's body up to his chest, arms now pinned to his side.

Sinking further into the goo, Lloyd took a deep breath, and angled his head upwards. Closing his eyes in fear, he sank further, disappearing in the obsidian-hued sludge.

In the brightly lit apartment, Lloyd sat up suddenly, gasping for breath. He rubbed at his arm, wiping away the sensation of the lingering goo from his nightmare. He blinked, seeing that the sun was crossing the floor boards. Lloyd tilted his head in confusion. The only time actual sunlight came into the small apartment was very early in the morning. There was no way the others had let him sleep through dinner, was there?

"Morning Lloyd." Kai said from across the room.

"Morning?" The green ninja asked, stretching. Kai laughed as Lloyd got up, looking at the clock to make sure the ninja of fire was actually right. Sure enough, it said it was just a little past ten in the morning.

"Yeah Lloyd, morning. You know, the time after night?" He joked, getting a glare from the young ninja. "Sleep alright?"

Lloyd shook his head as he looked for some cereal. "Not really." Sliding a slightly damp bowl along the small counter-top, he found the box of cereal, and poured a small bowl, his stomach still twisting in knots. "Where are the others?" Lloyd asked, trying to keep the conversation going as he sat down at the small table. "And why'd you guys let me sleep so late? Weren't we supposed to be training hours ago?"

Kai held up a small note. "Sensei said since you were making some progress and that since you hadn't been sleeping well enough, that you needed today off. Something about making sure you don't over-exert yourself."

Lloyd stuck the spoonful of dry cereal into his mouth, the crunch muffling the last part of Kai's sentence. "Hmm?" It didn't make sense. Of all things his uncle believed in, days off wasn't one of them, especially since no one knew when the final battle would be.

He shook it off. A day off would be okay, he could probably go and see if there was a new Star Farer comic book out. It had been a while since Lloyd had time, to go check.

His stomach still churned with the lingering unease. What little of his appetite he had left was gone now.

_'You're growing stronger son, but you'll never be strong enough to defeat me. Give up, before it's too late!'_ His father's words still cut deeply at Lloyd. Was he really never going to be strong enough? Was he going to let everyone down when the time came?

The door to the apartment opened, and Jay, Cole, and Zane's voices filled the room with some soft conversation they were continuing from their walk home. Jay noticed how Lloyd was pushing his cereal around the bowl, something the young child had started doing more often. "Something eating at you kid?" He asked, raising his scarred eyebrow. setting the groceries he was carrying down on the table next to Lloyd, the child looked up.

Jay took in the child's sleepy expression, and ruffled his blonde hair, which flattened down close to his head on one side from sleeping. The dark circles under his eyes didn't go unnoticed either. It was the only proof that the child hadn't been sleeping well enough. Lloyd nodded. "I can't shake this feeling like something bad's gonna happen." Lloyd confessed, not meeting the eyes of his teachers. "It's been almost a week since dad tried anything, what if he's planning something? Something big."

To Lloyd, as he spoke, it felt like his stomach was untying the knots that it had forced itself into. Cole set his bag of groceries on the floor. "Look Lloyd, even if your father's planning something, we're not gonna let him hurt you. I think you're forgetting that it's _our _job to protect you." He said, and the others agreed silently.

Lloyd still stared at his cereal bowl, like it was going to make the problems better. "He said I'd never be strong enough."

The sound of groceries being placed on fridge shelves filled the room. "We can prove him wrong!" Kai said, trying to get Lloyd to smile. "I think you're forgetting that we're more than capable of teaching you how to fight!" The child looked up, and Kai placed his hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "And your dad is wrong. You're going to be strong enough. I know it."

The apartment was still for a moment, and everyone waited to see if Lloyd believed the fire ninja's words.

Nodding, the small child took another bite of his cereal. "I guess you're right." He said past a mouth full of the breakfast food. He swallowed before speaking again. "Since we have the day off...can we go out somewhere?"

Laughter filled the small room. "Sure Lloyd." Cole said, smiling at the fact that Lloyd wasn't as upset now. "We can go wherever you want to go today."

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**Filler chapter isn't my favorite thing to write, but in this case, it was necessary. It sets up everything nicely.**

**As always, feedback of all kinds is appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Monday1113 does not own Ninjago.**

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The Taste of Control

Chapter Three

An hour later, the group of five left the small apartment, and started walking downtown towards the comic shop that the child wanted to visit so desperately.

As soon as they got there, Lloyd immediately ran towards a poster where his favorite comic should have been. Completely wrapped up in the thought that there wasn't a new issue, since they were coming out with a limited print one in a week's time, he didn't notice his friends leaving the store.

The ninja had made it out of the store silently, and began to walk down the dark alleyway. Even though it was close to midday, the alley seemed to stay just as dark as it would have been in the early hours of nighttime. The four walked into the darkness, in near perfect synchronization.

Waiting for them, nearly invisible in the shadows, was Lord Garmadon.

The ninja stood silently in front of him, heads bowed. "We've convinced your brother to give Lloyd the day off." Zane began, his voice much darker in tone than normal. "It was not hard."

"How did you do it?" Garmadon asked, surprised that his brother had let Lloyd have the day off. "I know Wu, and he would not let my son miss a day of training so he could have fun."

Kai met Garmadon's eyes. "He's been sleeping less and eating less. All we had to do was say that a break might be good for him." The fire ninja crossed his arms over his chest. "Now what? It's not like you can just walk into the comic shop and take Lloyd away. Too many witnesses."

Garmadon chuckled at the hot-headed ninja's naïvety. "He trusts the four of you though. Lead him out of the city. Tell him there's a surprise. Remember," The dark lord stepped closer, giving stern looks to each ninja, waiting for each to look away from his crimson glare. "You work for me now."

The group bowed. "Yes, Lord Garmadon." They said, four very different voices answering as one. As the dark lord vanished back into the shadows, the ninja made their way quickly back into the shop.

* * *

Lloyd hadn't even noticed the brief disappearance of his teachers, too busy talking to a fellow comic fan. Their conversation punctuated with wild arm waving, and excited nodding. He felt his stomach twisting itself back into knots, and bit the inside of his cheek.

The kid, someone who Lloyd didn't even know by name, just that they were a fellow fan, noticed the blonde go slightly pale. "Hey," He asked, reaching forward to place a hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "You okay?" The child tilted his head to the side, making sure that Lloyd wasn't about to puke all over him or something.

Lloyd shook his head, and slowly sat himself down on the floor, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. "Not really, but I'll be okay." Lloyd wasn't sure who he was talking to by saying that, the kid, or himself.

The child walked away, going into the back room to get a small paper cup, and filled it with water. Staying with his uncle had some advantages, he got to spend all day in the comic book shop, and met all sorts of cool people. Walking back out, the boy knelt next to Lloyd, holding out the cup. "Hey, can you sip at this?"

Lloyd took the cup with shaking hands, breathing through his nose, and out his mouth. Slowly sipping at it, he vaguely wondered where the others were.

"Lloyd?" Jay asked from behind, suddenly at the child's side. "What's wrong?"

He watched the child slowly sip at the chilled water, his shaking slowly subsiding. "D-don't know, just felt really nervous all of a sudden." Jay looked at the child, and the kid left, giving Lloyd some space to talk with his teacher. "I mean, my stomach's been sorta flipping around for a while, I guess because dad hadn't tried anything, and I guess stress and everything and..." The blonde kept babbling incoherently, something the blue ninja could sympathize with.

As Lloyd's tremors stopped, and he finished sipping at the water, the other three, who had watched from a distance, slowly made their way forward. "So," Kai started, his voice light-heartened. "Did you find the comic you wanted Lloyd?"

Lloyd stood up, shaking his head. "No, there wasn't a new issue." He looked at Kai, smiling really widely. "There's gonna be this limited edition one coming out soon though! When it comes out, if I've done really, really, _really_, good in training, can we come get one?" All thoughts about his stress induced breakdown left his mind at the thought of the issue. Having a goal to strive for, even if it wasn't really important in the big scheme of life, was good. For Lloyd, having a goal other than defeating his father was fine by him.

Kai ruffled Lloyd's hair, laughing a little. "We'll see." The fire ninja smirked a little. "We have a surprise for you though Lloyd." He said, sharing a subtle look with the others.

Lloyd furrowed his brow. "A surprise?" The child tilted his head, mind trying to figure out what kind of surprise it might be. "What is it?"

The five started walking towards the exit, Kai and Jay right beside the green ninja, Cole and Zane closely behind him. Making their way out into the early afternoon's unforgivable sunlight, Lloyd let his teachers lead him eastward, excited about the surprise.

* * *

As the ninja reached the edge of town, Kai pulled a small rectangle of cloth out of his pocket. "Lloyd, close your eyes."

The youngest of the group did as his favorite teacher, and close friend said, closing his eyes lightly. Beside him, Jay pulled out a matching piece of cloth, unfolding it from the neat square it had been in. Kai spoke again, standing in front of Lloyd. "I'm just going to cover your eyes, just so you won't be tempted to peek, 'kay?"

"Alright..." Lloyd said, slightly upset about the blindfold. Kai gently wrapped the cloth around his eyes, tying it firmly behind Lloyd's head. Some of the baby fine hair got caught in the knot. He winced, but just reached behind his head to fix the problem. The older four looked skywards, watching the Black Bounty make it's decent from the sky.

Lloyd's ears picked up on the sound of the giant ship overhead. "Guys...we should really get out of here..." He said, pulling the blindfold off with one hand. Looking around, the others weren't making any sign that they were about to leave the area, even with the threat of a fight. "Guys!" Lloyd said, this time louder. Kai turned around, and noticed that the blindfold was no longer covering his eyes. With a guttural growl in his throat, Kai nodded towards Cole, who picked the kid up, keeping the boy's arms behind his back.

The child didn't take to being handled like that well. Kicking and struggling, the boy tried to hit the earth ninja somewhere it would hurt, but to no avail. "HELP!" The child shouted, desperately wriggling, trying to get out of Cole's iron grip. "Somebody he-MPH!" As Lloyd's shouted again, Jay wound the piece of cloth he had around Lloyd's mouth, silencing him for the most part. Tying it behind his head, Lloyd tried to find any way to dislodge the scrap of cloth.

The ship landed, and the ninja walked forward, Cole still carrying the stilling Lloyd.

As they got on board, Lloyd immediately knew his suspicions had been right. That box _had _to have been from his father. There was no other way to explain why the ninja would have done this. _'The cookies.' _Lloyd realized. _'They have to be what caused this! Maybe they were laced with Hypnobrai venom or something like that! Something to control their minds!' _

Now on the center of the deck, Cole set Lloyd down, still keeping a firm, but not too tight, grip on the green ninja's wrists. Lloyd looked around, and saw his father. Glaring at him, Lloyd felt the gag being removed. The scrap of dark grey cloth fell, landing on the deck.

"Welcome home, son." The dark lord said, smirking down at Lloyd.

* * *

**Ta-da~ Looks like Lloyd might be getting in over his head.**

**As always, reviews are welcome. I value your opinion.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took so long. I was RP'ing with StrawberryBunny4341 and that was a lot of fun~**

**Monday1113 does not own Ninjago.**

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The Taste of Control

Chapter Four

Lloyd was beginning to feel overwhelmed. A large group of Serpentine, including the four generals, had made it onto the deck. They were surrounding him in a way that would make running difficult. Not to mention if Lloyd wanted to run, the ninja still were around him. Getting past them would be the first challenge, after them, the Serpentine.

He could barely hold his own in one on one combat. Four against one, plus all the Serpentine _and _his dad were odds that belonged in the negative percentages. It was next to _impossible _for him to get away by fighting.

"Dad." Lloyd started, looking up at his father. "What's going on?" Every cell in his body was screaming that now was not the time to act polite. His body was telling him to screw the odds, and to just run. Lloyd felt himself shift his stance so he'd be ready to fight.

Garmadon let out a laugh, smiling at his son genuinely. "I've won." He said simply, smiling at his son. "The ninja work for me now."

He watched his words hit his son, the confident look on the child's face falling. Lloyd shook his head the slightest bit, trying to find a way to tell his father he was mistaken. Deep inside, he could feel it though, beating himself up mentally over letting himself be lured out here. Lloyd also felt betrayed. Even if his father had orchestrated everything, and had the ninja under his command, why didn't they try to fight against him? Were their senses of judgement gone too?

Lloyd shook away his emotions. Right now, he couldn't let them cloud his judgement. _'Clear your mind. Find your exits. Stay calm.' _The words from an old lesson reminded him instantly about what he had to do. His father didn't know how much time Lloyd used to spend finding hiding places, and all the little secret passages on the ship.

The child stood still, glimpsing around the deck for any possible escape routes. He was small, and he might tire a lot faster than the others would, but he could run, and while he was doing that he could shout and scream for help until someone noticed.

Garmadon could see that his son was forming a plan. It wasn't too hard. His son's body language revealed everything. Choosing to let his son learn the hard way, he watched.

Lloyd's stare flicked nervously around, trying to figure out what was going to happen now. If he didn't fight, the other would have no reason to hurt him. However, they'd probably be able to lock him up wherever they wanted to on the ship.

"Son," His father said, making Lloyd look up. "I will give you a choice. Join me now, willingly, or join me later. Either way, you will join me."

The blonde child snorted a bit. "Father, you know I could never join you." The little green ninja looked up at his father, smirking. A tornado of bright green grew around the boy as he spun. It provided a momentary distraction as he slipped under the arms of his former teammates. Running towards the side, he leaped, making sure to tuck his limbs in tightly as he rolled across the firm ground, seconds after landing.

His feet pounded on the pavement under him. The colors of the asphalt and concrete greeted him as he made it off of the grassy lot, blending together in a blur. Heart pounding against his chest, he didn't look behind him, not wanting to see if they were close or not.

A hand grabbed his arm, pulling him into an alleyway, as he passed. Panicking a little, Lloyd struggled, wrenching his arm away.

That was when he looked up at the person who had pulled him off the street. It wasn't one of the others, or any of the Serpentine. It was a woman with grey hair pulled back in a braid. As she flattened herself against the wall of the building, Lloyd did the same, catching his breath. His heart slowly stopped pounding so hard.

The two stood silently, listening for the others to run past where they were hiding. Once it was quiet, the woman walked over to Lloyd quietly. "Come with me. I'll contact Sensei Wu and let him know you're alright." She said, her voice calming. It struck something deep inside of Lloyd, almost like a voice from a good dream, or a lullaby he remembered faintly. As the woman walked away, Lloyd followed, half jogging to keep up with her fast and purposeful strides.

"How do you know my uncle?" He asked, even though he felt like he knew the answer he was about to get.

She didn't even turn around. "I've known Wu for a long time, Lloyd." Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a hat, as well as a simple red hoodie. "I also know your father." She handed him the articles of clothing. Her eyes meeting his for a second before looking forward again. "While I might not know the reason you're being chased, if your father is after you, and he's sending the ninja as well as the Serpentine, they'll be looking for you wearing your green shirt."

Lloyd quickly pulled the hoodie over his head, and pulled the hat on. He could have passed off as any kid in the city. The two walked out of the alley, making their way over towards a bus stop. Lloyd could already see the bus coming their way. Pulling out a bus pass, the woman kept her hand on Lloyd's shoulder until they were both on the bus.

Sitting in the back, Lloyd looked at her. "Who are you exactly?"

"I'm your mother, Lloyd." He nodded, knowing she was right.

"Where are we going?"

"To the museum. We can call your uncle from my office, and then we can talk more." She said, smiling down at her son for the first time in several years. "I'm sure you have questions."

"Lots." Lloyd said, looking down at his feet. Outside of the bus, buildings passed by. "But I really want to know how to get my friends back."

* * *

**I was going to let Lloyd be a captive for several chapters, but decided that this should happen instead.**


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